Inigo Pascual is making international waves by being the latest in Asian talent to start breaking across Atlantic barriers into the US. Last year he did an official cover for The Disney Channel, inspired by “Remember Me” from the movie Coco. Audiences worldwide recognize him from ASAP TV (the international equivalent to The Voice) and also from his show Music Popssss, which is in its 7th season. Inigo will be rolling out the first single “Options” to his debut solo American album today leading up to his fall album. YEM spoke with Inigo about his music career and his newest single!
Photo Credit: Andrei Suleik
Young Entertainment Mag: So how did you first get involved in music?
Inigo Pascual: I was in first grade, in CSA, my school and I joined a singing competition. My parents were shocked ’cause you know, they were like, ‘Do you even know how to sing?’. I joined the competition and I didn’t care that the other contestants knew how to sing, we were from first to fifth grade. After that my mom was like, ‘You know what, we have to put you through music school.’, so I did Center for Pop (school for voice and stage lessons).
YEM: How would you describe your sound? How did you find your sound?
Inigo: I feel like, you never really find your sound. I feel like it’s always changing depending on what phase in life you’re in; the people you listen to, the movies you watch and just how vulnerable you are. I feel like me right now, I’m just in a point in my life, where I’m kind of experiencing heartbreaks, and I’m also experiencing moments where I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to choose. So I feel like a lot of young people go through that, but definitely, just staying positive and using music to really describe the way I feel about things.
Photo Credit: Andrei Suleik
YEM: You’ve toured all over the world. Do you have a favorite country to perform in?
Inigo: I really enjoyed Australia when I was there for ASAP (variety TV show). Australia was beautiful. One place that I would like to stay longer in though was UK. I was there for three days only.
YEM: How is performing in America different from performing in other countries?
Inigo: It’s different. First of all, like, different crowd, different expectations from people. In America they have a lot of artists out there so people are more like, ‘Alright, let’s see what you got.’, you know what I mean. In the Philippines it’s more about encouragement. I guess the Filipino market is more emotional. The American market I guess is more, like, cool. So I guess performing in the States, you just have to really make your set more creative. In the Philippines you have to make your set more creative. In the Philippines you have to make it more personal and more connected to the audience.
YEM: If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be?
Inigo: Billie Eilish!
YEM: So do you have a favorite song to perform live?
Inigo: Yeah. I do this mashup of ‘Girls Like You’ with a bunch of different songs. For my original songs: ‘Dahil Sa’yo’. But you know from the newer album, I would enjoy performing ‘First Impressions’ the most.
YEM: Finally, you have a new album coming out this summer. Can you give us a preview of what we can expect from the album?
Inigo: There’s gonna be a whole lot of different sounds in the album. There’s gonna be some slow songs, some really upbeat, danceable songs. But just like the title of the album, ‘Options’, it really speaks about how your heart and your brain clash. And sometimes you’re stuck in the middle and you don’t know what to choose.
So these are songs that talk about: ‘I’m sorry, I’m not him.’, or, ‘It should be me’, you know like choosing, ‘Do I listen to my heart or do I listen to my brain?’. So I guess people could expect a lot of songs that they can relate to. I don’t want my album to be just one genre. I want it to be something that everyone can listen to. Like, I want some people to like this song even if they don’t like the other song, and if that person doesn’t like this song, another person might like that song, you know what I mean. So they’d always have something to listen to in my album.
